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User
Policies
download pdf
file, 57 kB
November 1, 2009
These user policies are subject to revision and updates. Consult the website www.nmr900.ca for the most recent version. Please forward your comments and suggestions to the Facility Manager or to the Members of the Steering Committee.
1. Mandate of the Facility
The National Ultrahigh-Field NMR Facility for Solids is a national scientific user facility funded by the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), and the National Research Council of Canada (NRC), the Ontario Innovation Trust, Recherche Québec and Bruker BioSpin and managed by the University of Ottawa. The initial application to CFI was supported by more than forty Canadian scientists. The Facility has been created to provide Canadian researchers access to a state-of-the-art 900 MHz NMR spectrometer for solids. The Facility is intended exclusively to support research projects of the NMR research community and their academic and industrial collaborators.
2. Management of the Facility
The
management structure of the Facility consists of an International Advisory
Board, a Steering Committee, and a Manager.
The International Advisory Board consists of three members, recognized
experts of the international NMR community. The members are appointed jointly
by the President of NRC and the Vice-President, Research, of the University
of Ottawa. The term of membership is 3 years. The Advisory Board meets once
a year. It reviews the Annual Report of the operations of the Facility, and
provides comments, suggestions and recommendations on the efficiency of the
operations, on the basis of the evaluation of the report. The mandate consists
also of informing the Steering Committee of new opportunities for synergy
among the users, and with external partners in different sectors. The Board
appoints users to serve as members of the Steering Committee.
The Steering Committee is responsible for the operational planning.
As a general responsibility, the Steering Committee maintains the state-of-the-art
nature of the Facility, and takes actions to implement the necessary improvements.
Its mandate consists also of establishing the criteria for access to the facility
and for priority of scheduling, in managing the budget for minor upgrades,
and in improving the general operations of the Facility. The Steering Committee
reviews regularly the structure of user fees, oversees the budget of the Facility,
and submits the Annual Report of the Facility to the Advisory Board.
The Manager is responsible for the day-to-day operations. The manager
is the liaison between the users, the technical staff and the Steering Committee.
The manager is also the liaison with the NRC staff providing technical assistance.
The manager prepares an Annual Report of the Facility for review by the Steering
Committee before review by the Board.
International Advisory Board: T. Cross (U.S.A.), A. Kentgens (the Netherlands),
M. Pruski (U.S.A.)
Steering Committee: M. Auger (Université Laval), D. Bryce (University
of Ottawa) (chair), Y. Huang (University of Western Ontario), J. Ripmeester
(NRC-SIMS), R. Wasylishen (University of Alberta)
Operations: V. Terskikh (manager, NRC-SIMS and University of Ottawa),
P. Morris (NMR probe technician, University of Ottawa), E. Ye (NMR technician,
University of Ottawa)
3. Application guidelines
All Canadian academic, government and industrial researchers are eligible to apply for time on the 900 MHz NMR spectrometer. Non-Canadian researchers are also welcome, although the priority will be given to Canadian-funded projects. We emphasize that the Facility is for solids only. There are several other national NMR centers and facilities available for high-field liquid-state NMR projects.
To apply for time on the 900 MHz NMR spectrometer, interested researchers are required to submit a brief research proposal (see Appendix A). A research proposal for the 900 should be a specific concise project and not a research program of the applicant's research team, i.e. the title and description of the project should reflect a particular research problem to be solved on the 900 instrument.
All proposals will be reviewed and prioritized by the members of the Steering Committee on the merit of scientific goals and scientific quality, necessity for the ultrahigh magnetic field and qualifications/experience of the applicant. Please submit your complete application electronically as a single PDF file to the Facility Manager. At the moment there are no deadlines for applications.
Approved research projects are valid for a one-year term from the moment of application. During this period users are eligible to request instrument time on the 900 as often as deemed necessary for successful completion of a project. It is possible to renew the project for an additional year. All renewals, however, are subject to approval by the Steering Committee.
The instrument time is assigned by the Facility Manager. Every effort will be made to accommodate the access needs of all users in a timely manner. However, when requests exceed the instrument time available the highest priority will be given to Canadian researchers.
A regularly updated instrument schedule is posted on the official website of the Facility. All applicants should check this schedule for time availability or contact the Facility Manager before submission for the latest information.
All those intending to work on the spectrometer independently should have at least two to three years of first-hand experience on modern NMR spectrometers. The Manager of the Facility reserves the right to deny unsupervised access to the spectrometer to inexperienced users. Hands-on training is available for students and users with little experience. Upon request and subject to further approval by the Steering Committee, the highly-trained Facility staff is available to perform experiments on behalf of the clients at an additional charge.
4. Facility use agreement
Prior to accessing the Facility all users must sign the Facility Use Agreement.
5. User fees
Ongoing operations of the Facility are funded in part by CFI and NSERC. Some of the costs associated with operating the facility will be covered through user fees. It should be understood that the implemented user fees cover only a fraction of the total costs of operation. The Steering Committee has adopted a simplified flat-rate user fees structure:
Canadian
academic users
$CA 100 per day
Government, non-Canadian academic $CA 300 per day
Industry
$CA 2000 per day
Technical assistance/operator
$CA 50 per hour
The minimum charge is for one full day (24 hrs). An hourly rate is available for industrial clients ($CA 100 per hour). Priority/off-schedule access for service-for-fee clients is charged at double the normal rate (subject to the instrument time availability). The user fees cover use of the Facility, including magnet, console, probes and MAS rotors.
We require at least two weeks' notice of cancellation of your reservation. Eligibility for cancellation or rescheduling with less than two weeks' notice is at the sole discretion of the Manager of the Facility.
We reserve the right to cancel any reservation in full or in part in case
of force majeure or other circumstances beyond our control, for example the
instrument shutdown for emergency maintenance/repair.
6. Travel support for students and young scientists
Students
and young scientists from Canadian Universities may apply for a travel stipend
towards full or partial reimbursement of their travel expenses. All requests
should be submitted by a supervisor in advance of the trip and include a cost
estimate. Requests should be forwarded to the Facility manager for review
and approval by the Steering Committee.
7. Progress reports
Progress of each research project is regularly reviewed by the Steering Committee to ensure that the 900 instrument time is allocated appropriately. Adequate reporting is also important in securing continuing financial support of facility operations by funding agencies. Cooperation of our users in this matter is therefore appreciated.
Brief progress reports should be submitted to the Facility manager either upon request by the Steering Committee, or at the end of the one-year term of the project. Such reports are mandatory for any project renewals. Each report should illustrate for non-NMR specialists major project findings and should normally not exceed one page (text and figures). Selected progress reports will be included in the Annual Report prepared by the Facility.
Users should also regularly forward to the Facility Manager any publications featuring project results as soon as such publications become available.
8. Acknowledgements
Use of the Facility should be acknowledged as following:
"Access to the 900 MHz NMR spectrometer was provided by the National Ultrahigh-Field NMR Facility for Solids (Ottawa, Canada), a national research facility funded by the Canada Foundation for Innovation, the Ontario Innovation Trust, Recherche Québec, the National Research Council Canada, and Bruker BioSpin and managed by the University of Ottawa (www.nmr900.ca). The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) is acknowledged for a Major Resources Support grant."
In rare and exceptional circumstances, when the space is limited, for example in abstracts and communications, this full acknowledgement can be abbreviated as:
"Access
to the 900 MHz NMR spectrometer was provided by the National Ultrahigh-Field
NMR Facility for Solids (www.nmr900.ca)."
Appendix A
National Ultrahigh-Field NMR Facility for Solids
Application form
Project Title
Supported by (list financial support from all sources, e.g. Federal or Provincial government agencies, private foundations, industrial or other commercial organizations)
Name of the applicant (normally PI)
Organization
Contact information
Immediate user (if not the applicant, name, title, contact information)
Requested visit dates
Requested equipment, materials and supplies
Requested technical assistance (if necessary)
Research Proposal (one-two pages)
Describe briefly research to be conducted, scientific goals, proposed time frame for the whole project. The proposal should include results obtained at lower magnetic fields and clearly demonstrate why the ultrahigh-field NMR instrument is requested. Please include a list of the most important publications relevant to the proposed research, either written by the applicant or publications by other researchers.
Brief curriculum vitae of the applicant (normally PI, one page)
Normally, the person applying for the instrument time should hold an ongoing Faculty (including Adjunct) or Staff position at an accredited University or College, or hold a senior research position with a Company.
Brief curriculum vitae of the immediate user (if not PI, one page)
CV should demonstrate sufficient first-hand experience of the applicant, or a person intended to work on the spectrometer on behalf of the applicant, in solid-state NMR, ability to perform complex experiments on modern NMR spectrometers independently or with minimal technical assistance.